Document 0g2d0jDkEMGOqYxZe1O5oLrex

__ -Si! JL S t a n d a r d O il C o m pa n y (iJfDIAJfA) D u . Bk y c e B. Ub k v k , llIKECTOH op .Mk d H'AI, OBIT. 910 So u t h Mic h ig a n Av e n u e Ch ic a g o , Il u . Ja n u a r y JO, 13lL6 D r. R o b e rt A. Ke'aoe C ollege of M edicine U niversity of C incinnati C in c in n a ti, Ohio Dear Dr. Kehoe: I am e n c l o s i n g copy o f c o rre s p o n d e n c e we have had from T h e rm o p o lls, Wyoming i n r e g a r d s to a case where an in d iv id u a l is suing th e c ity fo r b lin d ness and is claim ing th a t h is tro u b le is due to the handling of leaded g aso lin e. I re a liz e th a t th e in form ation p resen t is very meager as f a r as d e ta ils a re concerned, but th e C ity C ouncil has asked fo r inform a tio n and guidance in reg ard to defense of th is claim . As t h i s c la im m ore o r l e s s p e r t a i n s to le a d e d g a s o lin e , I th o u g h t i t v/ould be o f i n t e r e s t to you, and I v/ould l i k e to have y o u r g u id an ce and a d v ic e in regards to fu rth e r correspondence. T h is i s n o t t h e f i r s t . t i m e we h av e had in fo rm a tio n where someone a t th e liayo C lin ic has in f e r r e d t h a t c e r t a i n c a s e s m^y be t h e r e s u l t o f l e a d p o iso n in g from h an d lin g le a d e d g a s o lin e . I s h a l l a p p r e c i a t e r e c e i v i n g y o u r com m ents as soon as possible*. Very tr u ly yours, -- - M.D. KB 0016156 c 0 P Y- T h e rm o p o lis , Wyoming January l6 , S S ta n d a rd O il Company o f In d ia n a Denver, Colorado G entlem en: Re: F i l e T A tte n tio n D. F. B enton M r. P . B. M cKiernam, who owns t h e B ig H orn G a rag e h e re i n t h i s C i ty , r e f e r r e d me y o u r l e t t e r o f J a n u a r y 1 1 , 1 9 ^ 6 , an d a s k e d me to an sw e r t h e same a n d g iv e you what in fo rm atio n I can concerning th e claim o f D allas Langshaw a g a in st th e C ity of T herm opolis. M r . ^ B c la im s t h a t i n May 19^3 he l o s t t h e s ig h t o f both e y e sa n d has f i l e d f o r com pensation a g a in st t h e c i t y . He w orked f o r t h e C ity a t t h e pum ping p l a n t f o r a b o u t th r e e y e a rs p r i o r to th a t tim e . P r i o r to t h a t he was e n g a g e d i n a g a ra g e and f i l l i n g s t a t i o n b u s i n e s s . He c la im s t h a t p r io r to h is lo s in g h is s ig h t he s u ffe re d no 111 e f f e c ts in h is s ig h t. H is f i r s t claim was based upon le a d poisoning, or o th er poisoning caused by c h lo rin e gas which was u sed a t th e p la n t. A fter h is A tto rn ie s found th a t C hlorine gas did not contain lead , or lead in s u ffic ie n t q u a n titie s to cause p o is o n in g , th e y now c la im t h a t he was p o iso n e d from th e use o f g a s o lin e . G aso lin e was used in th e pumping p la n t b u ild ing only fo r th e purpose of s ta r tin g a sm all com pressor in o rd e r to s t a r t th e m otors which pumped th e w a ter fo r th e C ity . The amount o f g a s o lin e used in t h i s was d e liv e re d in fiv e g a llo n cans and poured in to th e ta n k o f th e sm all m otor when n e c e s s a ry , th e ta n k h a v in g a cap w hich was th e n screw ed down so t h a t th e g a s o lin e c o u ld n o t e sc a p e . The am ount used was n o t more th a n f iv e g a llo n each th r e e m onths. The b u ild in g In which th e g a s o lin e was u se d i s a p p ro x im a te ly ^0 f t . by 100 f t . In dim ension w ith high c e ilin g and p le n ty o f v e n tila tio n . I t i s n o t known i n what m anner th e C laim an t h an d led th e g a s o l in e , b u t t h e r e was n o th in g i n t h e way t h a t i t sh o u ld norm ally be handled except as I have ex p lain ed in th is l e t t e r . The C laim ant h as n o t given th e d e ta ils o f th e manner In which he handled th e g a so lin e , but i t i s p ro b ab le th a t i t would only be h an d led and p la c e d in th e ta n k s n o t more th a n once o r tw ic e a month. g 0016157 -2 - The C laim ant f i r s t n o tic e d th e symptoms o f h is b lin d n e ss s h o rtly b efo re h is eyes were e ffe c te d . H is eyes were n o t e ffe c te d a t th a t tim e, but he s ta te s he had been i l l q u ite a long tim e and a t one tim e had had a f a in t in g s p e l l and b e fo r e he w ent b lin d had sh a rp p a in s come up th ro u g h h i s back and th ro u g h h i s e y es, and. t h a t h is eyes were p a in fu l. That a f t e r he became b lin d , th e re w a sn 't so much p a in , t h a t th e m ain o p tic n e rv e s were dead, a n d o th e r n e rv e s were dead w ith e x c e p tio n o f some sm a ll n e rv e by which he could d is tin q u is h o b je c ts , a n d th a t th e D octor sa id th e nerves tu rn ed w hite - th a t through a long p eriod of tim e and by c o n su ltin g to d if f e r e n t D octors, he f i n a l l y w ent t o Mayo Br o s . C l i n i c . A ll o f th e D octors d is a g re e d as to what was th e n a t t e r w ith th im . F ir s t he went to Dr. C a rte r and Dr. Vicklund i n T h e rm o p o lis , b o th o f whom t o l d him t h a t h i s c o n d itb n was tem p o rary and t h a t he w ould s h o r tly re c o v e r. T h is was b e fo re h is b lin d n e s s . At t h a t tim e he th o u g h t i t was c h lo rin e g as, b u t one o f t h e D o c to rs d e c id e d he had sto m ach u l c e r . He com p la in e d o f a p ain in h is le g a t th a t tim e, and s a id he accumu l a t e d a fe v e r known as U n d u lan t f e v e r , w ith th e rheum atism fo r which he took rheum atism s h o ts . Then he went to th e Movius C lin ic a t B illin g s , M ontana and th e D octors th e r e , Movius S r ., and M ovius, J r . , and Dr. Gordon d ecid ed th a t he had tu la re m ia fe v e r and se n t a blood t e s t to H elena, M ontana; the r e t u r n s on t h i s b lo o d t e s t w ere n e g a t iv e . A t B i l l i n g s they decided he d id not have u lc e rs , had a fev e r of 102, p a in w ent away a n d s t a y e d i n h i s l e g s . He was s e n t t o Dr . D avis o f B i llin g s f o r t e e t h e x a m in a tio n . Went to Dr. James a t C a sp e r who t o l d him he h a d a b r a i n tu m o r - s u g g e s te d he s e e Dr. A d d iso n a t R o c h e s te r . He w ent t o R o c h e s te r t o Mayo C lin ic to see Dr. A ddison about Ju n e 12, 19^3* A ddison s a id he h a d no b r a in tum or, s a y s Mayo C lin ic found le a d i n h i s u rin . He c la im s t h e D o c to rs a t Mayos c la im e d l e a d p o is o n ing had s e ttle d in h is eyes and had alread y s e ttle d in h is sy stem . A p p ro x im ately J u n e , 19^3 Dr. P h i l l i p Hursema was main c o n s u ltin g D octor w ith D octor A ddison, a ls o Dr. R ucker. C laim ant adm its t h a t Mayos s e n t t o T herm opolis fo r sam ple$6f C hlorine and o th e r m a te ria ls used a t th e p la n t and found no s u f f i c i e n t c o n te n ts to w a rra n t le a d p o iso n in g . I t seems th e only way in which le a d p o iso n in g could have b een c o n t r a c t e d by t h i s man was th r o u g h u se of th e g a s o lin e which I have d e sc rib e d in th is l e t t e r , and in f a c t h is A tto r n e y s now c la im t h a t he l e a d p o is o n in g came from t h i s g a so lin e . T his g a so lin e was no t th e h ig h powered g a so lin e f(S 0016158 \ v\\ " 3- which i s a d v e rtis e d by you a s c o n ta in in g le a d - i t i s th e medium o r s ta n d a r d b ra n d o f g a s o lin e . I t does n o t seem p o s s ib le th a t from th e use of th is sm all amount of g a s o lin e , which d id not exceed fiv e g a llo n In th re e m onths, th is le a d p oisoning could have been c o n tra c te d , I understand t h e r e a r e some M ed ical a u t h o r i t i e s w hich c la im t h a t l e a d p o i s o n i n g m ig h t, o r c o u ld b e c a u s e d by g a s o l i n e , b u t I do n o t know o f any p a r t i c u l a r case where thisxxsK xkaJ: has been the fa c t. I un d erstan d th a t i t i s custom ary fo r your hundreds o f thousands of d is tr ib u to r s to handle v a st amounts o f gaso lin e d a ily . I a lso un d erstan d th a t i t is custom ary fo r work men i n g a r a g e s w here g r e a s e a c c u m u la te s on t h e i r hand s a n d fa c e s , to wash w ith .g a s o lin e in o rd e r tp^emove th e g rea se and do n o t know o f any i l l e f f e c t s o f t h i s . I f t h e h u n d re d s o f th o u s a n d s o f men who a r e d a i l y exposed to th e fumes from g a so lin e which th e y in h a le , it and from th e use o f g a so lin e in w ashing an d o th er-w ise h an d lin e i t and g e ttin g i t in c o n ta c t w ith thpfekin where i t may be ab so rb ed and th u s c o n tra c tin g le a d p o iso n in g , i t would pro b a b ly be o f i n t e r e s t to th e Company to know i t . I f t h i s i s n o t th e c a se , and I th in k -it i s n o t, i t m ight be o f in te r e s t t o you n o t t o h av e a ju d g em en t i n C o u rt w h ereb y a man had claim ed to have c o n tra c te d le a d p o iso n in g through the handling of g aso lin e. ' I g r e a t l y a p p r e c ia te y o u r l e t t e r to Mr. McKiernam, a n d w i l l v e ry much a p p r e c ia te any f u r t h e r in f o r m a tio n and a re p o rt showing th e fa c ts r e la tiv e to th e above m a tte r. Yours very tr u ly , C. W. A x t e l l c w a :mh P .S . We w ould a p p r e c i a t e an a n a l y s i s shown th e am ount o f le a d in medium p r ic e d g a s o lin e . C.W.A. Hr 0018153